Athens County digs in to community gardens for produce and peace of mind
By: Maria Monesi
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NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) – In a small garden at the top of a hill in Nelsonville, volunteers are hard at work planting vegetables for the season.
At the Nelsonville Community Garden, plots are full for the first time. Space there and in other community gardens in Athens County are limited because of a rising interest in gardening.
“It’s hard to know exactly what the causes (are) for the increase in gardening interest, but we’ve definitely seen an increase since 2020,” said Susie Huser, Community Food Initiatives director of outreach.
The growing interest in community gardening comes as high food prices are putting a strain on people’s wallets and the pandemic has had an effect on people’s mental health.
For some, the answer to relieving both is gardening.
“People cite interest in gardening for access to food, for access to green space where they can enjoy nature, or for gardening for mental and emotional health,” Huser said.
Similarly, the OSU Extension for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences in Athens County has seen more interest in community gardening.
“We had an increase in gardening activities during the pandemic and that seems to have held for the last two years,” said Ed Brown, educator in agriculture and natural resources for the extension office.
Some gardeners are donating vegetables they grow to food banks in the area, Brown said. He believes it can help meet the need for food supply for the tight budgets that some people have.
At Southside Carriage Hill Community Garden in Athens, gardening has helped gardener Gezelle Guilliard through stressful times.
“I actually watched one of the other gardeners for years, and she encouraged me to do it,” Guilliard said. “I said no, no. And then I actually was just going through some stressful times, and she said come on, and I went over there and I helped her dig plots.”
“It wasn’t really, like, to grow,” she said. “It was more to get stress off and then I just fell in love with growing.”
Gardening is also a good excuse to get outdoors.
“Having access to a garden space where you can be outside and relax a bit and also grow your own food is a win, win,” Huser said.